1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, apparatus, and products for initiating a service call for a hardware malfunction in a Point Of Sale (‘POS’) system.
2. Description of Related Art
The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely complicated devices. Today's computers are much more sophisticated than early systems such as the EDVAC. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware and software components, application programs, operating systems, processors, buses, memory, input/output devices, and so on. As advances in semiconductor processing and computer architecture push the performance of the computer higher and higher, more sophisticated computer software has evolved to take advantage of the higher performance of the hardware, resulting in computer systems and networks today that are much more ubiquitous and powerful than just a few years ago.
One of the most prevalent uses of these powerful computer systems and networks is for Point Of Sale (‘POS’) systems in retail establishments such as, for example, stores, restaurants, hotels, stadiums, casinos, and so on. Modern POS systems typically include one or more POS terminals connected to a POS controller that aggregates and administers POS transaction data. Each POS terminal is typically located on a checkout counter and used by an operator to complete customer sales. Each POS terminal is a computing device that typically includes a cash register, check/debit card/credit card reader, bar code reader or radio frequency identification (‘RFID’) chip reader, and so on. The POS terminals communicate over a network to various external transaction systems such as, for example, credit card processing systems, debit card processing systems, check processing systems, and so on.
Occasionally, the POS controllers or the POS terminals experience malfunctions due to software or hardware errors. Currently, however, no automated mechanism exists to identify whether the errors resulted from a software malfunction or a hardware malfunction. As such, a technician must manually examine any error data to identify whether the error is a software error or a hardware error and manually forward the error to the appropriate service group capable of diagnosing the error and fixing the malfunction. The process of manually examining the error data and forwarding the error data to the appropriate service group often adds significantly to the amount of time required to repair the malfunction. The delays in repairing the malfunction are typically costly to the retail establishment in terms of lost sales, customer satisfaction, decreased productivity, and so on.